By Mary O’KEEFE

There was a new bear in town this weekend. “Rosie” the bear decided to take a stroll through the neighborhoods of La Crescenta early Sunday morning. California Department of Fish and Game officers named her Rosie since she spent so much time on Rosemont Avenue.

It was early morning when calls began coming in to the Crescenta Valley Sheriff concerning a bear walking the streets.

The young bear walked down the 2600 block of Mayfield Avenue and got onto the Foothill (210) Freeway, shutting it down briefly. She then climbed over a fence at Rosemont Avenue and strolled down the street.

At Mayfield and Rosemont avenues she paused briefly to take a sip of water from a yard with its sprinklers on. She then continued down Mayfield and went visiting into backyards.

Residents came from all around as the chase began to see where she would go next. She entered a small cul-de-sac extension on Fairway Avenue.  Residents had a bit of surprise when they saw the bear walk across their driveways and front porches.

“We heard the helicopter and we [wondered] if it was a bear or a car crash,” said Carla Reiber, a resident on Fairway Avenue. “About 20 minutes later [the bear] walked right passed here.”

Reiber added the bear walked past her front porch. Most people on the quiet cul-de-sac were surprised not only to see the bear but also later to have the sheriff, California Highway Patrol and Fish and Game going in and out of the backyards.

The bear was found and shot three times with tranquilizers. She ran through more yards and finally succumbed to the drugs’ effect on Hermosa Avenue, lying down next to a fence leading to the wash.

Several people followed her as she went from house to house. Jill Caballero grabbed her Smart phone and began filming.

“We followed the bear from getting on the freeway at La Crescenta to the overpass at Rosemont,” she said.

Caballero got a good look at the bear as it traveled through the neighborhoods.

“I think it was a big bear, but everyone said it was small,” she added.

California Department of Fish and Game, along with help from Montrose Search and Rescue members and sheriff’s deputies, carried Rosie to the back of the Game Warden’s truck and drove into the Angeles National Forest.

“It was a female bear, about 200 pounds,” said John Camphouse, MSR captain.

Camphouse and another MSR member traveled with California Fish and Game into the forest to release the bear.

Rosie is estimated to be about 2½-to-3 years old. Fish and Game tagged her like they did Crescenta Valley’s most famous bear Meatball. Rosie’s number is 520.

She was transported and will hopefully find food to her liking in the forest so as not to make another trip down to Crescenta Valley.

Photos courtesy of John CAMPHOUSE

  Mary Okeefe